ABSTRACT
Pidgins and creoles are today to be found in every continent. References to their existence go back to the Middle Ages and it is likely that they have always arisen when people speaking mutually unintelligible languages have come into contact. Yet what are they? It is convenient to begin with the useful myth that we can give short, neat definitions of the terms ‘pidgin’ and ‘creole’, though it is worth stressing from the outset that the many-faceted nature of human languages is unlikely to be encapsulated in a few sentences. In a very real sense, the entire book is the definition, and the full nature of pidgins and creoles will emerge only gradually. Pidgins and creoles have been given both popular and scholarly attention. Popularly, they are thought to be inferior, haphazard, broken, bastardized versions of older, longer established languages. In academic circles, especially in recent years, attempts have been made to remove the stigma so frequently attached to them, by pointing out that there is no such thing as a primitive or inferior language. Some languages, it is true, may be more fully adapted to a technologically advanced society but all languages are capable of being modified to suit changing conditions. Yet, while scholars have increasingly come to recognize the importance of pidgin and creole languages, there has been considerable debate, and disagreement, among them as to the precise meaning to be attached to the terms. The following definitions would, however, be widely accepted as a reasonable compromise.
